Churchill Downs Down In Purses

Churchill Downs Down In Purses

Average daily purses and horse fields were down slightly for Churchill Downs during its just-ended spring meet.

The Louisville track's officials said a lot of it was due to competition from tracks in other states that also receive casino revenues.

Kentucky lawmakers ruled not to allow slot machines at state tracks.

"We continue to compete on a playing field with those tracks that is far from level and the impact of that competition becomes more evident with each racing meet," said Churchill Downs track President Kevin Flanery.

Average daily purses for Churchill Downs during the spring meet were $549,759, said officials.

That's down 1 percent from a year ago when the daily average was $555,242.